Spanish Harlem Says Goodbye to Hector Macho Camacho
By: Robert Brizel
*Photo copyright: Robert Brizel,Real Combat Media, All Rights Reserved
New York, NY– A carriage drawn by white horses made its way slowly through Hector Camacho’s old Manhattan neighborhood, where residents lined the streets. Outside of St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church in the El Barrio section of Spanish East Harlem in New York City, the cold and wind did not deter the many people from all over the mainland United States who came to say their final goodbyes to Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho. The visitation line, which stretched along East 106th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, was a testament to the many friends and admirers Camacho had in his lifetime. Inside the church, over a hundred of Hector’s close relatives gathered while a salsa tribute band played festive music of Hector Lavoe.
As darkness set in outside the church, amidst the curbside Telemundo 47 camera truck and hawkers selling Macho Man tee shirts, the local crowds began to swell, and tell their stories of what the ‘Macho Man’ meant to their lives, as they waited for a last glimpse of Camacho’s coffin to be removed from the church. It was, for the simple working people of the Spanish Harlem neighborhood, a parting way to say goodbye, and reminisce about how the Macho Man’s lives had affected their own.
One woman explained “Macho was the greatest. There was only one Macho. He was my baby. May he rest in peace!”
A man from Camacho’s Spanish Harlem neighborhood, who did not give his name, explained why so many people had gathered outside the church. “Unity. The Hispanic community coming together with our sympathy and love. We’re coming up. Hector was a part of our heritage and we love him. We send our thanks to everybody. The Hispanic community sends hope and love to everybody. Hector Macho goes down in history with the Hispanic community. Today, we will say and remember only the good things. Hector was a friend to all of us and we love him.”
Still another man from Spanish Harlem predicted what will happen to Camacho’s killers-if they live long enough to get caught. “The majority of the people were crying today. What Hector did in the past or present, it doesn’t matter. Everybody’s got skeletons in the closet. Hector will be judged by what he stood for in boxing. The people here feel that whoever did this to Hector should get what they deserve. Life imprisonment? For whoever did this there will be no mercy shown by our brothers! If they find Hector’s killers and put them in the general inmate population in Puerto Rico, they will not make it, they will not survive, they could get killed in prison. People turn their backs in there. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
A third man, who identified himself as being from Hartford, Connecticut, remembered when he drove taxicab in New York City, and met Camacho in the Poeta Cafe Bar in Manhattan’s Alphabet City, and they spent the night drinking shots. “We became friends in the bar. We were drinking tributes to everyone in the bar. Why we were drinking toasts to everyone in the bar, I still don’t have a clue.”
Outside the Parroquia Santa Cecilia, a large banner on the church reads, ‘Que Bueno Ha Sido Dios!’ Translated from Spanish it means ‘How beautiful is the glory of God’, and how beautiful the emotions of the Hispanic community were outside the church.
As Hector Macho Camacho’s coffin emerged from the church, draped in the Puerto Rican flag, and Hector’s children waved to the crowd, the people of the Spanish Harlem community shouted the famous battle cry one last time “It’s Macho Time! It’s Macho Time! It’s Macho Time! It’s Macho Time!” As they shouted it, the pallbearers holding Macho’s coffin paused in awe, and for a brief moment time stood still. A woman broke down and cried “Ay Macho! Ay Macho!” He was gone.
Samuel Caraballo, 19, looking on in sadness as Camacho’s family emerged from the church, who trains at Castle Hill Bronx Chester Gym, said he now wants to be an amateur boxer, and one day be a world champion just like Camacho. Holding up a portrait of his idol, Caraballo explained “I want to be just like the Macho Man.”
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